Feed-forward canceller

ABSTRACT

A feed-forward cancellation system includes a transmitting element and a receiving element. The transmitting element is in electrical communication with a transmitting line. The transmitting element is configured output a transmission signal to the transmitting line. The receiving element is in electrical communication with a receiving line. The receiving element is configured to process a response signal that is generated in response to the transmission signal and that is delivered to the receiving line. At least one antenna is configured to transmit the transmission signal, receive the response signal generated based on the transmission signal, and deliver the response signal to the receiving line. The feed-forward cancellation system further includes an electronic cancellation unit configured to generate a cancellation signal based on the transmission signal. The cancellation signal eliminates saturation from at least one of the response signal and the receiving line.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/908,373, filed Nov. 25, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to simultaneous transmission and receiving systems.

Conventional systems capable of transmitting and receiving data simultaneously will be subject to leakage and/or reflections. The leakage and/or reflections can saturate the first gain stage in the receive path. The saturation, however, prevents the system from operating properly.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a feed-forward cancellation system comprises a transmitting element and a receiving element. The transmitting element is in electrical communication with a transmitting line and configured to output a transmission signal to the transmitting line. The receiving element is in electrical communication with a receiving line. The receiving element is configured to process a response signal that is generated in response to the transmission signal and that is delivered to the receiving line. At least one antenna is configured to transmit the transmission signal, receive the response signal generated based on the transmission signal, and deliver the response signal to the receiving line. The feed-forward cancellation system further includes an electronic cancellation unit configured to generate a cancellation signal based on the transmission signal that eliminates saturation from at least one of the response signal and the receiving line.

According to another embodiment a method of eliminating saturation in a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system comprises delivering a transmission signal from the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system to at least one antenna. The method further comprises receiving via the at least one antenna a response signal that is based on the transmission signal and delivering the response signal to a receiving line of the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system. The method further comprises generating a cancellation signal based on the transmission signal using the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system. The cancellation signal is configured to eliminate saturation from at least one of the response signal and the receiving line.

Additional features are realized through the techniques of the present disclosure. Other exemplary embodiments are described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimed invention. For a better understanding of the various exemplary embodiments, the following description is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram generally illustrating a feed-forward system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a frequency domain channelized active RF cancellation architecture for wideband signals according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a signal flow through the frequency domain channelized active RF cancellation architecture for wideband signals according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a time domain feed-forward cancellation system according to at least one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a feed-forward cancellation system comprising a cancellation unit including an electronic digital signal processor capable of replicating a leakage and/or interference signal;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a feed-forward cancellation system comprising a cancellation unit including an electronic digital signal processor and a signal detector capable of identifying one or more types of saturation;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram generally illustrating a dual antenna feed-forward cancellation system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a dual antenna feed-forward cancellation system in greater detail according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating a dual antenna feed-forward cancellation system according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a dual antenna feed-forward cancellation system according to yet another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of eliminating saturation in a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of eliminating saturation in a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system according to another exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of eliminating saturation in a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system according to yet another exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

At least one embodiment of the disclosure provides a feed-forward cancellation system that is configured to mitigate reflection and/or leakage in a simultaneous transmission and receiving system, for example. The same system can also mitigate Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) from external sources including the environment and jammers. The feed-forward cancellation system comprises a frequency domain centric system, a time domain centric system, or a combination of a frequency domain and time domain centric system to cancel interference and leakage signals as they enter the receiving portion of the system. The interference signals include, but are not limited to, self-inflicted wideband interference signals and interference signals. Accordingly, saturation of all receive stages, including the Analog to Digital Converter (ADC), are prevented. If linearity is maintained from the RF front-end through the digitizing process, then the digital signal processing (DSP) end of the system can remove the interference residue with high levels of precision.

Referring to FIG. 1, a feed-forward cancellation system 10 transmits an original signal on a transmission line 12 to an antenna 14, and mitigates and/or cancels one or more reflected signals received on a receiving line 16. In at least one embodiment, an incoming received signal present at the receiving port of a circulator 18 is similar to the transmitted signal from the system 10 due to one or more signal reflections and/or signal leakage. Various reflected and/or leakage signals are canceled by the feed-forward cancellation system 10. For example, the feed-forward cancellation system 10 cancels leakage signals 20, antenna reflection signals 22, and interference signals 24. The leakage signals 20 include, for example, a portion of the original transmission signal that leaks through the circulator 18 and onto the receiving line 16. The antenna reflection signals 22 include signals that are reflected back from the antenna 14. The interference signals 24 include reflected signals 26 received by the receiving line 16 that are reflected from the external environment. The external environment includes, but is not limited to, mountainous terrain, aircraft, naval vessels and land vehicles.

At least one exemplary embodiment of a feed-forward cancellation system 10 according to the present disclosure includes a cancellation unit 106 configured to split a wide-band transmission signal into a plurality of sub-band signals. The cancellation unit 106 is interposed between the transmission line 12 and the receiving line 16 as further illustrated in FIG. 1. According to an embodiment, the split sub-bands are equal to one another. Each sub-band signal is delivered to a respective band pass filter which feeds the channels of a signal canceller. Each channel uses a feedback loop fed by the post cancelled signal to optimize the signal cancellation. Each channel includes, for example, a tunable RF delay and amplitude circuit which is controlled by a digital controller.

Referring to FIG. 2, for example, a frequency domain feed-forward cancellation system 100 is illustrated according to at least one exemplary embodiment. The frequency domain feed-forward cancellation system 100 includes a transmitting element 102, a receiving element 104, a cancellation unit 106, a circulator 108, a canceller microcontroller 110, and a signal detector 112. The transmitting element 102 includes a power amplifier (PA), which outputs a transmission signal to a transmission line/radiator to transmission path 114. The receiving element 104 includes a low noise amplifier (LNA), which receives a transmission signal from transmission path 114. The cancellation unit 106 is communicatively interposed between the transmitting element 102 and the receiving element 104. In this regard, the cancellation unit 106 cancels leakage of the transmission signal through the circulator 108 before the leakage is fed to the receiving element 104. As a result, a signal received from free space excluding leakage is provided. The cancellation unit 106 also cancels reflections of the free space transmission signal received from free space before the transmission signal is fed into the receiving element 104.

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the cancellation unit 106 is configured as a channelized canceller 106. The channelized canceller 106 includes one or more filter elements 116 and one or more respective tunable cancellation elements (TCE) 118 configured to actively cancel reflections in a transmission signal received from transmission path 114 before the transmission signal is received by the receiving element 104. According to at least one embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, the channel canceller 106 includes a low pass filter (LPF) 116 a, a mid pass filter (MPF) 116 b, and a high pass filter (HPF) 116 c. It is appreciated that the combination of filter elements 116 is not limited thereto. The channelized canceller 106 is configured to process broad frequency bandwidths and/or systems with mismatched components. For example, an active cancellation process and a sub-banding process to mitigate reflection are performed immediately upon receiving the signal from free-space. The channelized canceller 106 first splits the transmit signal into one or more frequency bands to ease the cancellation requirements. This allows wider bandwidths to be addressed without suffering degradation at the bands edges. This concept can be expanded to include more than three frequency bands depending on mitigation requirements and system characteristics.

A respective TCE 118 is interposed between each filter 116 and the receiving element 104. The feed-forward cancellation system, (e.g., active cancellation and sub-banding), therefore, operates on the transmission signal received from transmission path 114 before the signal is fed to the receiving element 104. According to at least one embodiment, each TCE 118 has different frequency response settings with respect to one another. For example, a first TCE 118 connected to the LPF has a frequency response setting with a different slope or transfer function than the mid or high portions of the signal. A second TCE 118 connected to the MPF has a frequency response with a different characteristic. Thus, each TCE 118 is able to optimize the matching of the transmission signal frequency response in order to most effectively cancel it.

The circulator 108 is communicatively coupled to an antenna 120 (e.g., a blade antenna), via a transmission path 114. The transmission path 114 has a length (L). The circulator 108 receives reflections back from the antenna 120 due to mismatches in both the transmitting and receiving lines. The canceller microcontroller 110 is configured to control one or more of the TCEs 118 to actively tune a respective channel. The signal detector 112 (hereinafter referred to as detector 112) has an input interposed between the circulator 108 and the receiving element 104, for example, and an output that is connected to the canceller microcontroller 110. The characteristics of the transmission signal (e.g., reflections, leakage, voltage level, frequency, etc.) traveling on the receiving line is therefore detected before being fed into the receiving element 104, and before being provided to the canceller microcontroller 110. The canceller microcontroller 110 therefore dynamically controls one or more TCEs 118 to actively remove undesired signals before the undesired signals are input to the LNA 104, for example. Although the frequency domain cancellation system 100 is illustrated as an active cancellation system 100, it is appreciated that the canceller microcontroller 110 can be omitted to provide a passive frequency domain cancellation system.

Referring to FIG. 3, a signal view of the system 100 is illustrated according to at least one embodiment. During normal leakage mitigation, an original signal (S1) is generated by the system 100 and is amplified by the transmitting element 102. A small portion of S1 is diverted to the channelized canceller 106 where it is processed by the TCEs to cancel the leakage. The remaining portion of S1 is sent out to the transmission path/radiator 114, where it is transmitted over free space. A portion (S1 leakage) of the original transmission signal S1 leaks through the circulator 108 and on to the receiving line. This unwanted leakage is cancelled using the S1 sample processed by the channelized canceller 106. Similarly, a portion (S1 reflected) of S1 also reflects off of the antenna 120 as the original transmission signal S1 travels through free space. The reflected signal is also cancelled using the output of the channelized canceller 106. Cancelling the S1 leakage and/or the S1 reflected signals allows the system 100 to better detect the received signal of interest (RSOI) by removing the saturation (i.e., the S1 leakage and/or S1 reflected signals) or reducing the saturation to low residual levels.

It is also possible for the frequency domain approach to be applied to a system (such as a Digital RF Memory—DRFM system) which is capable of synthesizing a received wideband pulse or an a priori frequency response and using the active channelized canceller to mitigate wideband RF interference received from external sources.

Referring to FIG. 4, the system 100′ is illustrated according to another embodiment. The system 100′ illustrated in FIG. 4 is configured as a time domain feed-forward cancellation system 100′. The time domain feed-forward cancellation system 100′ includes a transmitting element 102, a splitter 103, a receiving element 104, a cancellation unit 106′, a combiner 107, a circulator 108, a canceller microcontroller 110, and a detector 112. The transmitting element 102 includes a power amplifier (PA), for example. The transmitting element 102 outputs a transmission signal to transmission path 114 that is in electrical communication with an antenna 120. The receiving element 104 includes a low noise amplifier (LNA), for example. The receiving element 104 receives a transmitted signal transmitted from the antenna 120 via the transmission path 114.

The cancellation unit 106′ is interposed between the splitter 103 and the combiner 107. In this regard, the cancellation unit 106′ cancels leakage of the transmission signal through the circulator 108 before the leakage is fed to the receiving element 104. As a result, a signal received from free space excluding leakage is processed at the receiver side of the system 100′. The cancellation unit 106′ can also cancel undesired reflections of the free space transmission signal before the transmission signal is fed into the receiving element 104. According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the signal output from the transmitting element 102 is split out by delay lengths based on the primary reflection paths back to the receivers. Multiple mitigation paths with differing time delays provide cancellation from interference signals separated in time, mainly due to the transmission path between the circulator 108 and the antenna 120. These paths include: leakage directly through the circulator to the receiver; reflections from the antenna back to the receiver; reflections from the antenna that reflect back from the circulator, and which reflect again off of the antenna back to the receiver; reflections from the aircraft structure back to the receiver; reflections from the ground back to the receiver;

As illustrated further in FIG. 4, at least one embodiment couples off (i.e., diverts) a small amount of the transmitted signal to the splitter 103. The splitter 103 splits the diverted signal into a plurality of sub-signals. Each sub-signal is delivered to a respective cancellation path 200 of the cancellation unit 106′. Each cancellation path 200 includes a variable attenuator 202, an electronic antenna modeling control unit (i.e., an antenna modeler) 204, and an electronic phase/amplitude shifter 206. The cancellation unit 106′ controls a time delay corresponding to a respective path 200. According to at least one embodiment, each path 200 has a different time delay associated with it. The delay of each of the paths 200 corresponds with the time it takes for the signal to reflect off of various fixed reflection points in the feed-forward cancellation system 100′ as described above. Each path 200 associated with reflections from the antenna 120 also includes a network having forward transfer characteristic that match the reflection characteristic of the antenna 120. The phase/amplitude shifter 206 inverts the diverted signal to create a cancellation signal that is 180 degrees out of phase with respect to the leaked signal and/or reflected signal. The phase/amplitude shifter 206 also provides a fine adjustment of attenuation and phase of the cancellation signal. The combiner 107 combines all the paths 200 and delivers the combined signals from each of the paths 200 back on to the receive path of the feed-forward cancellation system 100′. Accordingly, the cancellation signal cancels the leaked signal and/or reflected signal existing on the receive path prior to delivering the signal traveling on the received path to the receiving element 104. Thus, each path 200 is selectively tuned such that when cancellation signals output from a respective path 200 are combined with the reflected signal existing on the receiving line, the reflected signals are cancelled.

Although not illustrated, it is appreciated that the feed-forward cancellation system 100′ described above can be combined with the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1-3. For example, one or more of the paths 200 connected to the splitter 103 are replaced with a cancellation unit 106 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. In this regard, reflections occurring at particular time placements are removed using the cancelation system 106′, while reflections caused by a wideband signal are removed using the cancellation unit 106. According to an exemplary embodiment, if the interference is self-inflicted reflection and/or leakage, then the original signal output from the transmitting element 102 determines whether a frequency cancellation approach or a time domain approach should be performed. According to another exemplary embodiment, if the interference is external, a radio frequency interference (RFI) cancellation is performed based on the bandwidth of the interfering signal.

Another embodiment of the feed-forward cancellation system is provided where the cancellation unit includes an electronic digital signal processor capable of replicating a leakage and/or interference signal that is expected to appear the receiving line. The digital signal processor generates the replicated signal in addition to the system's own operating signal, and uses the replicated signal to cancel the leakage and/or interference signals. According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the system's own signal of interest could be preserved while the RFI is mitigated.

Referring to FIG. 5, for example, a feed-forward cancellation system 100″ includes a transmitting element 102, a receiving element 104, a cancellation unit 106″, and a circulator 108. The transmitting element 102 includes a power amplifier (PA), which outputs a transmission signal 109 to a transmitting line 111. The transmitting line 111 is in electrical communication with a transmission path 114. The transmission path 114 electrically communicates with an antenna 120 over free-space, for example. The receiving element 104 includes a low noise amplifier (LNA) 104. The LNA 104 is configured to receive a signal 113, e.g., a response signal 113, provided by an antenna 120, which is delivered to a receiving line 115 via a circulator 108.

The cancellation unit 106″ includes an electronic digital signal processor (DSP) 300 and a signal combiner 302. The DSP 300 includes a first output that is in electrical communication with the transmitting line 111, and a second output that is in the electrical communication with the receiving line 115 via the signal combiner 302. The DSP 300 generates a transmission signal 109 that is delivered to the transmitting line 111. The transmission signal 109 is amplified by the first power amplifier 102 before being delivered to the transmitting line 111. The amplified transmission signal 109 is then transmitted to the antenna 120 via the circulator 108. The DSP 300 also generates a cancellation signal 304 that is delivered to the receiving line 115. Since the DSP 300 is aware of the transmission signal 109 to be generated, the cancellation signal 304 is generated with a phase that is shifted 180 degrees with respect to the transmission signal 109. According to an embodiment, the cancellation signal 304 is generated simultaneously with the transmission signal 109, or even prior to generating the transmission signal 109. In this regard, at least one exemplary embodiment provides a feature where the phase-shifted cancellation signal 304 cancels a portion of the transmission signal 109 that leaks through the circulator 108 and onto the receiving line 115. Since the DSP 300 is aware of the of the magnitude of the transmission signal 109, the DSP 300 may generate the cancellation signal 304 to have a magnitude that matches or is similar to the transmission signal 109. As a result, saturation on the receiving line 115 and/or saturation of the received signal 113 are eliminated.

Furthermore, the DSP 300 included in the embodiment of FIG. 5 eliminates the need for a channelized canceller. Since the DSP 300 is aware of the transmission signal 109 and simultaneously generates a cancellation signal 304 having a shifted phase, there is no need to include a channelized canceller for splitting a portion of the transmitted signal 109 and generating a cancellation signal based on the split signal. Since the transmission signal 109 is not split, the power amplification on the input line is maintained at a desired power level thereby improving the overall power efficiency of the feed-forward cancellation system 100″.

Referring to FIG. 6, a feed-forward cancellation system 100′″ is illustrated according to another exemplary embodiment. The feed-forward cancellation system 100′″ operates similar to the feed-forward cancellation system 100″ as described in FIG. 5. The DSP 300, however, further includes an input in electrical communication with a detector 112. The detector 112 has an input in electrical communication with the receiving line 115 to form a sample signal path 308, and an output that is connected to an input of the DSP 300. The characteristics (e.g., reflections, leakage, noise, voltage level, frequency, etc.) of the received signal 113 traveling on the receiving line 115 is analyzed by the detector 112 via the sample signal delivered by the sample signal path 308. The detector 112 determines if the receiving line 115 is saturated (i.e., determines one or more leakage signals 20, antenna reflection signals 22, and/or interference signals 24) and generates an identification signal 310 to the DSP 300 indicating the type of saturation that exists. Accordingly, the DSP 300 receives the identification signal 310 and generates one or more cancellation signals 304 that are delivered to the receiving line 115. The cancellation signal 304 has a phase that is shifted 180 degrees with respect to the identified saturation (i.e., leakage signals 20, antenna reflection signals 22, and/or interference signals 24), thereby cancelling the saturation before the received signal 113 is delivered to the receiving element 104. The feed-forward cancellation system 100′″ dynamically generates one or more types of cancellation signals 304 based on the detected saturation to actively improve the quality of the receiving line 115.

Still referring to FIG. 6, the DSP 300 is configured to identify a saturation signal (i.e., leakage signal 20, antenna reflection signal 22, and/or interference signal 24). According to an embodiment, the DSP 300 stores one or signal models of the saturation signal in memory, and compares the sample signal to the stored models to identify the saturation signal as, for example, a leakage signal 20, an antenna reflection signal 22, and/or interference signal 24. The DSP 300 then generates a cancellation signal 304 that selectively cancels one or more of the leakage signal 20, antenna reflection signal 22, and/or interference signal 24, while maintaining one or more of the remaining saturation signals. For example, the DSP 300 generates a cancellation signal that cancels the leakage signal 20 and the antenna reflection signal 22, while maintaining the signal 24 on the receiving line 115. In this regard, the leakage signal 20, antenna reflection signal 22, and/or interference signal 24 are independently identified and cancelled independently with respect to one another.

Although various embodiments described above include a single antenna configured to operate as both a transmitting antenna and a receiving antenna, some electronic systems operate according to very high power conditions. Consequently, a single antenna does not achieve adequate isolation. Therefore, another exemplary embodiment of a feed-forward cancelation system 100″″ illustrated in FIG. 7 is configured as a dual antenna system 400 that includes a first antenna 120 (e.g., a transmitting antenna 120) connected to a transmitting line 111, a separate second antenna 120′ (e.g., a receiving antenna 120′) connected to a receiving line 115, and a cancellation unit 106″″ electrically interposed between the first transmitting line 111 and the second receiving line 115. The first antenna 120 and the second antenna 120′ are located remotely from one another by distance of, for example, approximately 3-6 feet (ft.).

The feed-forward cancellation system 100″″ is configured to couple off a portion of the transmit signal transmitted to the receiving antenna 120′. The coupled signal 402 is fed onto the receive path. According to at least one embodiment, the coupled signal 402 is phase shifted with respect to the transmit signal. In this case, the reflections leakage signals 20 and the antenna reflection signals 22 do not apply to the feed-forward cancellation system 100″″. However, one or more reflection signals 404 from the mutual coupling between the transmitting antenna 120 and receiving antenna 120′ occurs. For example, the receiving antenna 120′ still receives a very large signal from the transmitting antenna 120 that is located a close proximity away. Here, the unclassified power level assumptions are a transmit signal of approximately 60 power decibels (dBm) to approximately 80 dBm, for example. The signal is attenuated −60 dBm due to the physical separation between the transmitting antenna 120 and the receive antenna 120′. The attenuation results in a signal of 0 dBm to 20 dBm, for example, that propagates along a leakage path formed between the transmitting antenna 120 and receiving antenna 120′. The attenuated signal, i.e., the reflected/leaked signal 404, is received on the receive line 115 thereby saturating the receiving line 115 and/or the response signal delivered to the receiving line 115. However, the cancellation unit 106″″ is configured to eliminate or reduce the reflected/leaked signal 404 signal from the receiving line 115. In this regard, the performance of the feed-forward cancellation system 100″″ is improved in response to eliminating the saturation, i.e., the reflected/leaked signal.

Turning now to FIG. 8, a feed-forward cancelation system 100″″ including a dual-antenna system 400 according to an exemplary embodiment is illustrated in greater detail. The feed-forward cancelation system 100′″″ includes a first antenna (i.e., a transmitting antenna) 120 connected to the transmitting line 111, a second antenna (i.e., a receiving antenna) 120′ connected to the receiving line 115, and a cancellation unit 106. The cancelation unit 106″″ includes a DSP 300. The transmitting antenna 120 receives an original transmit signal 109 from a DSP 300 via the transmitting line 111. In response to the original signal 109, the transmitting antenna 120 communicates a response signal 402 to the receiving antenna 120′ as understood by those ordinarily skilled in the art. However, a portion (i.e., an antenna leakage signal) 404 leaks between the transmitting antenna 120 and the receiving antenna 120′. In this regard, a signal leakage pathway exists between the transmitting antenna 120 and the receiving antenna 120′. The DSP 300 models the signal leakage pathway, and then utilizes the model to generate a cancellation signal 304 in order to cancel the saturation, e.g., the antenna leakage signal 404.

As described in detail above, the DSP 300 determines one or more types of saturation, such as the antenna leakage signal 404, which exists on the receiving line 115. Based on the antenna leakage signal 404, the DSP 300 generates a cancellation signal 304 that is added to the receiving line 115. The cancellation signal 304 has a phase that is shifted 180 degrees with respect to the antenna leakage signal 404. Accordingly, the cancellation signal 304 cancels the antenna leakage signal 404 such that the receiving element 104 receives the response signal 402 transmitted from the transmitting antenna without realizing one or more types of saturation.

Referring to FIG. 9, a feed-forward cancellation system 100′″″ including a dual-antenna system 400 is illustrated according to an exemplary embodiment. The feed-forward cancelation system 100′″″ illustrated in FIG. 9 operates similarly to the feed-forward cancellation system 100″″ illustrated in FIG. 8 to perform cancellation of saturation from the received signal 113. The sample signal path 308 and the combiner 302, however, are located downstream from the receiving element 104, but upstream from a second DSP 300′ that processes the received signal 113 on the receiving side.

Still referring to FIG. 9, the cancellation unit 106″″ compares the original transmitted signal 109 to the received signal 113 which includes the saturation, e.g., the leakage signal 404. Based on the comparison, the cancellation unit 106″″ determines the linear distortion that exists, and models the linear distortion according to a set of coefficients. In this regard, the cancellation unit 106″″ processes the coefficients using various data processing systems including, but not limited to, a Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter system. A finite impulse response (FIR) filter (y) is modeled according to the following equation:

y(n)=Σ_(k=1) ^(M) b _(k) x(n−k),

where ‘b’ represents the filter coefficients (weights), “k” represents the term being iterated, x represents the input signal, and n represents the filter order. The resulting output matches the leakage signal 404 adjusting for linear distortions, and provides accurate parameters for generating a cancellation signal. The linear distortions include, but are not limited to amplitude, time delay, frequency dependent attenuation and filter effects, and multipath effects.

The cancellation unit 106″″ further utilizes various algorithms including, but not limited to, a least mean squares (LMS) algorithm and a recursive least squares (RLS), each which allows for an ability to ignore one or more signals that are uncorrelated to one or more types of saturation being analyzed e.g., the leakage signal 404. Accordingly, the cancellation unit 106″″ effectively removes saturation from the receiving signal 113 even in the presence of other external signals. By using an LMS algorithm, for example, a distortion of the leakage path is determined and a real time adaptive system is provided to synthesize a duplicate signal for cancellation of the leakage signal.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a feed-forward cancellation system 100″″″ including a dual-antenna feed-forward cancellation system 400 is illustrated according to an exemplary embodiment. The feed-forward cancellation system 100″″″ illustrated in FIG. 10 operates similarly to the feed-forward cancellation system 100′″″ illustrated in FIG. 9 to cancel saturation from the received signal 113. The feed-forward cancellation system 100″″″ of FIG. 10, however, includes a cancelation unit 106′″″ configured as a leakage residue cancellation unit that cancels residual leakage 408 that exists following initial cancellation of the saturation from the received signal 113 traveling on the receiving line 115. One or more up/down converters are provided to respectively up-convert or down-convert the voltage of the system.

The leakage residue cancellation unit cancelation unit 106′″″ includes an electronic receiver digital signal processor (RDSP) 502 and an electronic filter cancelling unit 504 configured to generate a time delay when an RF signal is propagated along the delay line. The feed-forward cancelation system 100″″″ executes a dual-cancellation calibration process that performs a first operation that cancels the original saturation (i.e., the leakage signal 404 on the receiving line 115 and a second operation that cancels the residual leakage 408 which remains on the receiving line. Accordingly, a receiving signal 113′ that excludes the residual leakage 408 is generated.

In regards to the first cancellation operation, a transmitter DSP (TDSP) 300 transmits a low-level calibration signal over the entire bandwidth of the transmitter antenna 120. The low-level calibration signal is, for example, a stepped swept sinusoid where transmission signals are a constant magnitude/phase. The phase ranges between 0 and 360 degrees. The RDSP 502 collects swept leakage data, and compares the received signal 113 to the transmitted signal 109. The swept leakage data may include, for example, two-dimensional (2D) array, magnitude and phase vs. frequency data. Based on the comparison, the RDSP 502 determines an impulse response of the system 100″″″. The impulse response is calculated according various algorithms including, for example, a Fourier transform algorithm as understood by those ordinarily skilled in the art.

The filter cancelling unit 504 includes a programmable filter system, such as a programmable FIR filter system for example. The RDSP 502 communicates with the filter cancelling unit 504, and programs the filter cancelling unit 504 according to an inverted impulse response. Accordingly, the filter cancelling unit 504 cancels the leakage 404 at the input of the receiving element 104. After cancelling the leakage 404 at the initial transmitting signal level, the TDSP 300 increases the transmitting signal level to a point where the leakage residue detected by the RDSP 502 exceeds a predetermined level and determines another impulse response at the increased transmitting signal level. According to at least one embodiment, the RDSP 502 stores filter coefficients in two-dimensional array of filter coefficients vs. RF level, and continuously repeats the process of determining the impulse response until a complete dynamic range of system power is characterized.

With respect to the second operation, any residual leakage 408 of the system 100″″″ is characterized and canceled. More specifically, the TDSP 300 determines the residual leakage 408 remaining after cancelling the original saturation (e.g., the original leakage signal 404) on the receiving line 115 for each of the RF levels and frequencies used to perform the calibration process described above. Thereafter, the RDSP 502 determines swept residual leakage data to determine a residual leakage signal 408. The swept residual leakage data includes, for example, two-dimensional (2D) array, magnitude and phase vs. frequency data. The RDSP 502 compares the residual leakage signal 408 to the original transmission signal 109 and determines an inverse Fourier transform to yield the impulse response corresponding to the system residue leakage 408.

The RDSP 502 then communicates with the filter cancelling unit 504, and programs the filter cancelling unit 504 according to an inverted impulse response of the system residue leakage 408. Accordingly, the residual leakage 408 is canceled from the RDSP 502 prior to any baseband signal processing/demodulation. In this regard, any baseband signal processing/demodulation components located downstream from the RDSP 502 receive the received signal 113′, which excludes both the original saturation 404 (i.e., the original leakage signal 404) and the residual leakage 408.

Turning now to FIG. 11, a method for cancelling saturation from a received signal traveling on a receiving line of a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system is illustrated according to an exemplary embodiment. The method begins at operation 1000 and proceeds to operation 1002 to generate an original transmission (Tx) signal. The original Tx signal is delivered to a Tx path to be transmitted to an antenna. At operation 1004, the original Tx signal is split prior to being transmitted to the antenna. At operation 1006, a cancellation signal is generated based on the split transmission signal. According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the phase of split signal is shifted to generate the cancellation signal. At operation 1008, a received (Rx) signal generated by an antenna is received on a receiving line. The Rx signal is also coupled with one or more types of saturation existing on the receiving line. The saturation includes, but is not limited to, leakage signals, reflection signals, and interference signals. At operation 1010, the cancellation signal is combined with the Rx signal to cancel the saturation. Accordingly, an Rx signal excluding saturation is generated and the method ends at operation 1012.

Referring now to FIG. 12, a method for cancelling saturation from a received signal traveling on a receiving line of a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system is illustrated according to another exemplary embodiment. The method begins at operation 1100 and proceeds to operation 1102 to generate an original transmission (Tx) signal. The original Tx signal is delivered to a Tx path to be transmitted to an antenna. At operation 1104, a received (Rx) signal generated by an antenna is received on a receiving line. The Rx signal is coupled with one or more types of saturation existing on the receiving line. At operation 1106, the original Rx signal is split and the type of saturation (i.e., leakage signals, reflection signals, and interference signals) included with the original Rx signal is determined. At operation, 1108, a cancellation signal is generated based on the determined saturation. According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the phase of the cancellation signal is shifted 180 degrees with respect to the determined saturation. At operation 110, the cancellation signal is combined with the original Rx signal and the method ends at operation 1112. Accordingly, an Rx signal excluding the determined saturation is generated.

Turning to FIG. 13, another method for cancelling saturation from a received signal traveling on a receiving line of a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system is illustrated according to an exemplary embodiment. The operation begins at operation 1200, and at operation 1202 an original Tx signal to be transmitted to an antenna is determined. Based on the desired original Tx signal, a cancellation signal is determined at operation 1204. At operation 1206, the original Tx signal and the cancellation signal are simultaneously generated. Accordingly, the original Tx signal is delivered to a Tx path before being transmitted to an antenna and the cancellation signal is delivered to an Rx path before receiving an Rx signal from an antenna. According to at least one exemplary embodiment, the phase of the cancellation signal is shifted based on the original Tx signal and/or a model of a signal leakage pathway. At operation 1208, an original Rx signal is received from an antenna and delivered to the Rx path. At operation 1210, the original Rx signal is combined with the previously generated cancellation signal delivered to the Rx path and the method ends at operation 1212. Accordingly, any saturation coupled to the Rx signal is immediately canceled.

As can be appreciated according to the various exemplary embodiments described in detail above, an original transmission signal is sampled to cancel one or more types of saturation that leak onto the receive line and couple to the original received signal in RF applications. By cancelling the saturation based on the sampling of the transmission signal, a more precise received signal is provided.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the various exemplary embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The exemplary embodiments were chosen to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.

While various exemplary embodiments have been described, it will be understood that those skilled in the art, both now and in the future, may make various modifications to the exemplary embodiments that fall within the scope of the claims which follow. These claims should be construed to maintain the proper protection for the invention first described. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A feed-forward cancellation system, comprising: a transmitting element in electrical communication with a transmitting line, the transmitting element configured to output a transmission signal to the transmitting line; a receiving element in electrical communication with a receiving line, the receiving element configured to process a response signal that is generated in response to the transmission signal and delivered to the receiving line; at least one antenna configured to perform at least one of: transmit the transmission signal, receive the response signal generated based on the transmission signal, and deliver the response signal to the receiving line; an electronic cancellation unit configured to generate a cancellation signal based on the transmission signal that eliminates saturation from at least one of the response signal and the receiving line.
 2. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 1, wherein the cancellation unit includes a digital signal processor having a first output that is in electrical communication with the transmitting line, and a second output that is in the electrical communication with the receiving line.
 3. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 2, wherein the saturation includes at least one of a leakage signal that leaks from transmitting line through the circulator, an antenna reflection signal that leaks from the antenna through the circulator, and an interference signal that is delivered independently from the antenna and onto the receiving line.
 4. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 3, wherein the at least one antenna is a single antenna configured to receive the transmission signal and transmit a response signal to the receiving line.
 5. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 4, further comprising a circulator in electrical communication with the antenna, the transmitting element and the receiving element, the circulator configured to deliver the transmission signal to the antenna and deliver the response signal to the receiving line.
 6. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 5, wherein the cancellation signal is phase-shifted with respect to the transmission signal.
 7. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 6, wherein the cancellation unit includes a combiner having a first input that receives the response signal from the circulator and a second input that receives the cancellation signal from the digital signal processor, the combiner configured to combine the cancellation signal with the response signal such that saturation of the response signal is eliminated.
 8. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 7, wherein the cancellation unit is configured to identify a type of saturation among a plurality of different saturation types, and to generate the cancellation signal in response to identifying the type of saturation.
 9. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 8, wherein the cancellation unit delivers the cancellation signal to receiving line prior to outputting the transmission signal.
 10. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 9, wherein the cancellation signal is phase-shifted 180 degrees with respect to the transmission signal.
 11. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 1, wherein the at least one antenna comprises: a transmitting antenna configured to receive the transmission signal from the transmitting line; and a receiving antenna located remotely from the transmitting antenna, the receiving antenna configured to receive the response signal and to deliver the response signal to the receiving line.
 12. The feed-forward cancellation system of claim 11, wherein the electronic cancellation unit is configured to model a leakage path existing between the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna, and to generate a digital cancellation signal based on the modeled leakage path.
 13. A method of eliminating saturation in a simultaneous transmitting and receiving system, the method comprising: delivering a transmission signal from the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system to at least one antenna; receiving via the at least one antenna a response signal that is based on the transmission signal and delivering the response signal to a receiving line of the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system; and generating a digital cancellation signal based on the transmission signal using the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system, the digital cancellation signal configured to eliminate saturation from at least one of the response signal and the receiving line.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising phase-shifting the cancellation signal with respect to the transmission signal.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising combining the cancellation signal to the response signal such that saturation of the response signal is eliminated.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising identifying a type of saturation among a plurality of different saturation types, and generating the cancellation signal in response to identifying the type of saturation.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising delivering the cancellation signal to receiving line prior to outputting the transmission signal.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising phase-shifting the cancellation signal 180 degrees with respect to the transmission signal.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the type of saturation includes at least one of a leakage signal that leaks from transmitting line through the circulator, an antenna reflection signal that leaks from the antenna through the circulator, an interference signal that is delivered independently from the antenna and onto the receiving line.
 20. The method of claim 13, further comprising: delivering the transmission signal from the simultaneous transmitting and receiving system to a first antenna; receiving via a second antenna located remotely from the first antenna a response signal generated in response to the transmission via, and delivering the response signal to the receiving line; modeling a signal leakage path that exists between the first antenna and the second antenna; and generating the cancellation signal based on the modeled leakage path. 